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FRIDAY, Aug. 27 (HealthDay News) — A new study finds that mothers who don’t breast-feed their children are at greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life compared to those who do breast-feed.

Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body’s cells gradually lose their sensitivity to insulin; the illness is often linked to obesity.

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh studied more than 2,200 women aged 40 to 78. They found that 27 percent of mothers who didn’t breast-feed developed type 2 diabetes, almost double the rate among women who breast-fed or never gave birth.

The researchers say the differences between the groups held up even after they adjusted the statistics for factors such as age, race, levels of physical activity and body-mass index.

“Diet and exercise are widely known to impact the risk of type 2 diabetes, but few people realize that breast-feeding also reduces mothers’ risk of developing the disease later in life by decreasing maternal belly fat,” said Dr. Eleanor Bimla Schwarz, an assistant professor of medicine, epidemiology, and obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of Pittsburgh, in a news release from the university.

“Our study provides another good reason to encourage women to breast-feed their infants, at least for the infant’s first month of life,” Schwarz said. “Clinicians need to consider women’s pregnancy and lactation history when advising women about their risk for developing type 2 diabetes.”

The study, which was funded by the U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and the National Institute of Child Health and Development, appears in the September issue of the American Journal of Medicine.

SOURCE: University of Pittsburgh, press release, Aug. 27, 2010.

via Breast-Feeding May Lower Women’s Risk for Type 2 Diabetes: MedlinePlus.

(Kansas City, Kan., August 30, 2010) – A Wayne County, Neb., landowner and a Madison, Neb., excavation contractor will pay a $30,000 civil penalty to the United States to settle allegations that they used earth-moving equipment to construct a dam on a tributary of Spring Branch Creek without first obtaining a necessary permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Bill Willers, of Norfolk, Neb., and Shannon Kurpgeweit, doing business as Custom Excavation, allegedly violated the federal Clean Water Act by discharging dredged or fill material into an unnamed tributary of the creek that runs through Willers’ property, creating the earthen dam. The dam was documented by a Corps of Engineers inspection of the site in October 2009.

Construction of the dam impacted more than a quarter-mile stretch of the creek, and at least 1.13 acres of adjacent wetland, according to an administrative consent agreement and final order filed by EPA Region 7 in Kansas City, Kan.

Under the Clean Water Act, landowners are required to consult with the Corps of Engineers and obtain proper permits before engaging in earth-moving projects that cause damming or adverse impacts to water bodies.

More >> 08/30/2010: Wayne County, Neb., Landowner and Excavation Contractor to Pay $30,000 Civil Penalty for Building Unauthorized Dam.

By Amy Norton

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Two forms of laser vision correction sometimes used as an alternative to LASIK seem to have similar results for people with nearsightedness, a new research analysis finds.

The findings, published in the journal Ophthalmology, confirm results from smaller studies suggesting that patients fare about as well with either of the procedures — namely, photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) and LASEK, a relatively newer technique that differs from its much more common sound-alike LASIK.

Since it was introduced in the U.S. in the 1990s, LASIK has become by far the most commonly used surgical technique for correcting nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism.

But PRK and LASEK are both options for people who cannot undergo LASIK because of certain factors, such as relatively thin corneas.

Like LASIK, the two procedures improve vision by using a laser to reshape the middle layer of the cornea, the transparent membrane that domes over the pupil. The basic difference among the three techniques is that they differ in how the outer layer of the cornea is managed.

More >>Two vision correction techniques look comparable: MedlinePlus.

New research supports the idea that viruses may play a role in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), a debilitating disease that affects millions of people nationwide.

CFS is characterized by profound fatigue that doesn’t improve with bed rest and can be made worse by physical or mental activity. Other symptoms associated with CFS include cognitive deficits, impaired sleep, myalgia, arthralgia, headache, gastrointestinal symptoms and tender lymph nodes.

No definitive cause for CFS has yet been identified. Last October, a team of scientists identified a murine leukemia virus (MLV)-related virus called XMRV in blood samples from patients with CFS. However, other research groups were subsequently unable to find MLV-related virus gene sequences in CFS patients.

Dr. Shyh-Ching Lo of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decided to test frozen samples of blood taken from well-documented CFS patients around 20 years ago. At the time, his team had been looking for, but was unable to find, agents associated with CFS. Lo’s team collaborated on the study with Dr. Harvey J. Alter at NIH’s Clinical Center (CC). Their work was funded in part by NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the De Young Foundation.

Read more >> Viruses Found in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Patients.

(Reuters) – Hurricane Earl turned into a major Category 3 storm on Monday as it lashed northeast Caribbean islands on a track that could see it swiping the U.S. East Coast in the next few days, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

But the Miami-based center said it was too early to say what part of the U.S. eastern seaboard might take a direct impact from Earl, the second major hurricane of the 2010 Atlantic season.

Earl had sustained winds of 120 mph and additional strengthening was expected in the next 48 hours, the center said.

The hurricane was moving west-northwest on a curving track that the National Hurricane Center said would take it east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, in the next few days.

Hurricane center forecaster Jessica Schauer said authorities along the U.S. eastern seaboard should closely monitor Earl’s progress. “Right now it’s forecast to pass off the coast of Cape Hatteras, probably within about 300 miles but that forecast track can change,” she told Reuters.

Schauer said a direct hit to the North Carolina coast could not be ruled out.

More >>Earl becomes major hurricane, could swipe U.S. east | Reuters.